Today I learned that Braunschweig is on the ocean, too, the Braunschweig-class corvette. Her captain came in a mini-Braunschweig to attend the Schoduvel, the largest carnival-parade of Northern Germany, the fourth-largest of Germany, 6 km long I learned, watching it 4 hours on TV (then time was up, not the parade over!).
Pic shows another vessel, taken in our holiday in Wilhelmshaven 2008.
Again, I couldn´t go, but this time I really watched the whole show on TV and the two guys commenting did a great job explaining what all the groups were about.
Here you find heaps of pictures.
The Schoduvel (Scho - Schnee, snow and duvel - Teufel, devil) is the devil who chases off winter, they explained, and I saw several of them in the parade. Chasing off the kids thanks to no winter being here (and I mean that in a positive kind of way).
They also screamed "Brunswiek" a lot, the old word for Braunschweig with "wiek" being the meaning for "fenced settlement".
There were soooo many Lion-themed wagons, too, here in the City of Henry The Lion.
Pic also 2008.
One Lion sitting backwards on a rocket, showing the middle finger - jips, the soccer-guys. For the first time in ages they made it to the first league, but so far won only once and are the last in the list, very likely next season it´s second league again. That´s why the rocket goes into the wrong direction.
Yes, I need to get that explained...
Then there were the real players of the former Braunschweig Lions, now New Yorker Lions carrying a sign "German Bowl Defender 2013", ha! Still the TV-guy didn´t really know what American Football is, very embarrassing.
After going to the games for 10 years this kinda did hurt.
They had to give autographs and all, now what is that stupid soccer anyway?
The Asse with it´s radioactive waste had a wagon, one showed a truck full of stuffed animals behind bars with butchers walking beside it, covered in blood, carrying huge butcher-knives saying no to industrial livestock farming. Angela Merkel had one, showing her stuffing money into the butt of a cow - yeah, us Germans pay for every country in the EU...
There were funny wagons as well, certainly.
And heaps of bands, traditional ones and modern ones, heaps of music.
250 000 people were watching the parade right in town, heaps on TV and online, commenting from all over the world, tons of sweets were throwed down, also T-Shirts and other stuff.
Hopefully next year we can go.
I always thought it´s just about wearing costumes, drinking lots of alcohol and satirical speeches. But now that I got all the explanations I´m finally keen to go.
Ingo, if you read along: Stop now.
Bro called me at around 11 this morning. Genes are really such a weird thing, I so take after my Dad and he so very, very much after our Mum, being in matters of being talk-active a true girl.
Of the 1 1/2 hours I talked probably some 15 minutes.
Ingo so was not amused!
Sundays are for just the two of us and next time I´ll ask him to call on an evening in the week or Saturday afternoons.
It´s really so weird how he takes after our Mum!
I even stopped him actively cause we needed to eat brunch. Maybe he´d chatted along for another 1 1/2 hours otherwise!
Little Niece (the two were alone) behaved great.
The pink suitcase I gave her last year still is a big hit, she went "on holiday" while we talked. Sweet girl.
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